Off-Road Vehicle and Ground Management System

ABSTRACT

An off-road vehicle that travels on the off-road ground includes: a sensor group configured to detect unevenness of the ground; a camera configured to capture the unevenness of the ground; a ground unevenness degree calculation unit configured to calculate a ground unevenness degree indicating an unevenness degree of the ground based on an input parameter; an input parameter setting unit configured to set, as the input parameter, data selected from among data detected by the sensor group and image data captured by the camera; an unevenness-position data generation unit configured to associate the actual vehicle position with the ground unevenness degree to generate ground unevenness-position data; and a data storage unit configured to store the ground unevenness-position data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/835,619, filed Dec. 8, 2017, which claimspriority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-087350 filed Apr. 26,2017, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated in theirentireties by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an off-road vehicle that travels on theoff-road ground, and a ground management system using the off-roadvehicle.

Description of the Related Art

JP2015-229433A discloses a road surface state detection device thatdetects the state of a travel surface of a road. This road surface statedetection device includes: an acceleration sensor that rotates togetherwith a wheel of the vehicle to detect the acceleration exerted on thewheel; a road surface state estimation unit that estimates the roadsurface state based on the acceleration value detected by theacceleration sensor; a GPS (global positioning system) device thatdetects the position of the vehicle; a transmitter that transmitsinformation regarding the road surface state estimated by the roadsurface state estimation unit and information regarding the position ofthe vehicle detected by the GPS device to a server connected via anetwork; and a receiver that receives road surface state informationtransmitted by the server. When the vehicle travels on a road, the roadsurface state detection device estimates a road surface state based on avalue detected by the acceleration sensor, and transmits the estimatedroad surface state information and vehicle position information from thetransmitter to the server. Accordingly, the server stores road surfacestate-related information transmitted from a plurality of vehicles, andthus if the receiver receives the road surface state-related informationstored in the server, then it is possible to acquire the state of a roadsurface on which the vehicle is to travel before the travel, and toperform driving that corresponds to the road surface state. Furthermore,it has been proposed to use not only a detected acceleration value butalso a road surface image captured by a camera to estimate a roadsurface state such as cracks or the like.

JP2009-090718A discloses a safe travel system with which it is possibleto easily prevent a vehicle collision on the road. In the safe travelsystem, braking distances of a subject vehicle and an in-front vehicleare calculated based on road surface data transmitted from a roadsurface data transmission means and the speeds of the subject vehicleand the in-front vehicle, a safe inter-vehicular distance between thesubject vehicle and the in-front vehicle is calculated based on thecalculated braking distances of the subject vehicle and the in-frontvehicle, the safe inter-vehicular distance being a distance such that,when the in-front vehicle is operated to brake, the subject vehicle isstopped without colliding with the in-front vehicle, and a brake meansis activated based on the calculated safe inter-vehicular distance andan actual inter-vehicular distance. Accordingly, it is possible torealize a safe inter-vehicular distance between the subject vehicle andthe in-front vehicle based on the received road surface data. Variousmethods are conceivable as means for detecting road surface conditions.For example, a method has been proposed in which an image of a roadsurface is captured by a camera, reflected light from the road surfaceis subjected to spectroanalysis, and an object present on the roadsurface and its state are analyzed.

JP2011-146065A discloses an information system that provides the driverof a vehicle that is traveling on a road with information regarding aroad surface state and weather information. The information system isconstituted by an on-board system and a center-side informationprocessing system. The on-board system includes: a slip informationdetection means for detecting slip-related information by detecting thatthe vehicle has slipped when a drive wheel of the vehicle has spun outon the road surface on which the vehicle is traveling and a device foradjusting the rotation driving force of the drive wheel has beenactivated to resolve the spin out; a vehicle position detection meansfor detecting position information regarding the position of thevehicle; a weather information detection means for detecting weatherinformation regarding the road surface on which the vehicle travels; acommunication transmission means for transmitting, when the slipdetection means has detected that the vehicle has slipped, the vehicleslip-related information detected by the slip detection means, thevehicle position information detected by the vehicle position detectionmeans, and the weather information detected by the weather informationdetection means to the center-side information processing system. Thecenter-side information processing system includes: an informationreceiving means for receiving detected vehicle slip-related information,vehicle position information and weather information; and an informationgeneration means for generating information regarding the road surfacestate and weather information, based on the detected vehicleslip-related information, the vehicle position information and theweather information that was received from the vehicle. The driver ofthe vehicle traveling on the road can use a display device to check theinformation regarding the road surface state and weather informationtransmitted from the center-side information processing system.

All of the systems for checking the road surface state according to theabove-described three documents are configured to check the state of aroad. Roads are subjected to regular maintenance, and also road surfacestates to be checked are mainly fine bumps and holes in the roadsurface, cracks, ice and wetness. Large holes in the road surface, rockssticking out from the road surface, large trees growing from the roadsurface and the like are not included in the detection targets. However,for off-road vehicles, which travel on undeveloped land off the road,that is, on the off-road ground, many bumps/holes and obstacles that arenot present on roads are to be taken into consideration. Furthermore,there are also off-road vehicle races in which off-road vehicles travelover large rocks and holes, and racers need to drive off-road vehicleswhile searching for large rocks and holes for training for races. Suchan off-road vehicle cannot employ a conventional system for checking theroad surface state of a road.

In view of the above-described circumstances, an off-road vehicle thattravels on the off-road ground while checking the ground state, and aground management system using the off-road vehicle are in demand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, an off-road vehicle that travels onthe off-road ground includes: a satellite positioning module configuredto output positioning data; an actual vehicle position calculation unitconfigured to calculate an actual vehicle position based on thepositioning data; a sensor group configured to detect unevenness(roughness) of the ground; a camera configured to capture the unevennessof the ground; a ground unevenness degree calculation unit configured tocalculate a ground unevenness degree indicating an unevenness degree ofthe ground based on an input parameter; an input parameter setting unitconfigured to set, as the input parameter, data selected from among datadetected by the sensor group and image data captured by the camera; anunevenness-position data generation unit configured to associate theactual vehicle position with the ground unevenness degree to generateground unevenness-position data; and a data storage unit configured tostore the ground unevenness-position data.

According to the configuration, the off-road vehicle selects, from amongdata detected by the sensor group for detecting unevenness of the groundand image data captured by the camera, data that matches the conditionof the ground, sets the selected data as an input parameter or sets aplurality of pieces of data weighted according to the condition of theground as input parameters, and calculates the ground unevenness degreeindicating the unevenness degree of the ground. Since there are varioustypes of ground states of the off-road ground, in contrast to roadsurface states of a road, it is important that data that matches theoff-road ground on which the vehicle is to travel can be selected as aninput parameter. The calculated ground unevenness degree is associatedwith the actual vehicle position at which this ground unevenness degreeis detected, so as to serve as ground unevenness-position dataindicating the ground unevenness degree at each travel position. As aresult of the ground unevenness-position data being stored, pieces ofdata for use in checking the distribution of ground unevenness degreesalong the track of travel of the off-road vehicle are accumulated, andcan be used for the next instance of travel. Furthermore, if anextremely dangerous hole or obstacle is detected, then it is possible toannounce its position and ground condition.

Data suitable for calculation of the ground unevenness degree includinga travel obstacle varies depending on the ground state of the off-roadground. For example, a sensor such as one for detecting a distancebetween the vehicle and the ground is suited for use for ground in whichholes, rocks and the like that the vehicle can drive over are scattered,and an inclination sensor or an acceleration sensor is suited for usefor ground in which rocky places such as those that can be climbed bythe vehicle are scattered. Also, a camera is suited for use for groundin which travel obstacles such as trees or rocks are scattered.Accordingly, in one preferable embodiment, the sensor group may includeat least one of a proximity sensor, an acceleration sensor and aninclination sensor.

Travel obstacles such as trees or rocks should be circumvented, and thusit is difficult to use a proximity sensor, an acceleration sensor, or aninclination sensor to detect the obstacles. However, travel obstaclessuch as trees or rocks that the vehicle cannot drive over can bedetected relatively easily and rapidly by performing image processing onimage data. Furthermore, simple bumps and holes in the ground as wellcan be accurately detected depending on the state thereof, by performingimage processing on image data generated by the camera, and thus theground unevenness degree thereof can be calculated. Accordingly, in onepreferable embodiment, a ground analysis unit configured to generate,based on the image data, an analysis result indicating the groundunevenness degree that includes the presence of a travel obstacle on theground may be provided.

In one preferable embodiment, an unevenness distribution map informationgeneration unit configured to generate ground unevenness distributionmap information based on the ground unevenness-position data accumulatedthrough off-road travel may be provided. Accordingly, it is possible togenerate a ground unevenness distribution map indicating the groundunevenness degrees (including the presence of an obstacle) along thetrack of travel taken by the off-road vehicle that travels freely on theoff-road ground, and to use the generated ground unevenness distributionmap as a guide for off-road travel.

As a result of the unevenness distribution map information beinggenerated based on the ground unevenness-position data not in astand-alone manner in the subject vehicle but cooperatively with othervehicles having the same function, it is advantageous that theunevenness distribution map information has ground unevenness degreesplotted more densely in a broader area. Accordingly, in one preferableembodiment, a communication unit configured to transmit the groundunevenness-position data to the outside via a communication line may beprovided.

Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to a groundmanagement system using the above-described off-road vehicle. In theground management system using such an off-road vehicle, the off-roadvehicle includes: a satellite positioning module configured to outputpositioning data; an actual vehicle position calculation unit configuredto calculate an actual vehicle position based on the positioning data; asensor group configured to detect unevenness of the ground; a cameraconfigured to capture the unevenness of the ground; a ground unevennessdegree calculation unit configured to calculate a ground unevennessdegree indicating an unevenness degree of the ground based on an inputparameter; an input parameter setting unit configured to set, as theinput parameter, data selected from among data detected by the sensorgroup and image data captured by the camera; and an unevenness-positiondata generation unit configured to associate the actual vehicle positionwith the ground unevenness degree to generate ground unevenness-positiondata. Furthermore, a management computer that can exchange data with theoff-road vehicle includes: an unevenness distribution map informationgeneration unit configured to generate ground unevenness distributionmap information based on the ground unevenness-position data transmittedfrom the off-road vehicle; and a map information supply unit configuredto transmit, in response to a request from a user terminal, the groundunevenness distribution map information to the user terminal. Also inthis ground management system, similar to the above-described off-roadvehicle, the ground unevenness degrees that match even various groundstates relative to road surface states of a road can be calculated, andthe resultant ground unevenness distribution map information can beshared between many off-road vehicles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a utility vehicle (UV) that isan example of an off-road vehicle according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the UV.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a control systemconfigured in the UV.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a flow of control data for managing theunevenness state of the off-road ground.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the off-road vehicle and the groundmanagement system according to the present invention will be describedwith reference to the drawings. In the embodiment, the off-road vehicleis a vehicle that is referred to as a utility vehicle (UV), and isconfigured to travel smoothly on the off-road ground (such asundeveloped land or a rocky place).

Overall Configuration

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the UV, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of theUV. This UV is a four-wheel drive vehicle. A vehicle body 10 of a pipeframe construction is supported by a pair of right and left steerablefront wheels 1 a and a pair of right and left steerable rear wheels 1 b.A cabin 2 is formed in the center of the vehicle body 10. A hood 11 isprovided in front of the cabin 2, and a luggage platform 12 is providedbehind the cabin 2. Front fenders 13 are provided extending from theright and left sides of the hood 11 and covering the upper portions ofthe front wheels 1 a, and rear fenders 14 made of a synthetic resin areprovided for covering the upper portions of the right and left rearwheels 1 b. A guard bar 15 is provided via a guard bracket 16 at thefront end of the vehicle body 10.

In the cabin 2, a steering wheel 21 for steering and controlling thefront wheels 1 a is arranged, a driving seat 22 is arranged behind thesteering wheel 21, and a passenger seat 23 is arranged beside thedriving seat 22. A windshield 24 is attached in front of the drivingseat 22 and the passenger seat 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, an engine room 3 is formed below the luggageplatform 12, and includes an engine 30, a transmission 31, a muffler 32and the like, which are shown by dotted lines. The transmission 31,which transmits the driving force from the engine 30 to the front wheels1 a and the rear wheels 1 b, is arranged behind the engine 30. Thetransmission 31 is constituted by an infinite variable-speed drive thatis here a hydro-static transmission (HST), and a gearshifter. Thegearshifter includes a multiple gearshift mechanism, a rear wheeldifferential mechanism and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cabin 2 is constituted by a rollover protectionstructure (ROPS) frame assembly 4 made of round pipes. The ROPS frameassembly 4 includes a left frame portion 4 a, a right frame portion 4 b,a front cross bar 4 c and a rear cross bar 4 d. The left frame portion 4a and the right frame portion 4 b have a gate shape. The front cross bar4 c connects the front upper end of the left frame portion 4 a to thefront upper end of the right frame portion 4 b, and the rear cross bar 4d connects the rear upper end of the left frame portion 4 a to the rearupper end of the right frame portion 4 b.

The guard bracket 16 includes a camera 8 in a way such that it isguarded by the guard bar 15. The camera 8 captures unevenness orroughness (including an obstacle such as a tree growing from the groundor a rock placed on the ground) of the ground on which the UV travels,and outputs image data. As shown in FIG. 2, a control box 17 is arrangedin a front end region of the cabin 2 to contain an acceleration sensor81 and an inclination sensor 82. The acceleration sensor 81 detects themovement of the vehicle body 10, in particular the movement in thevertical direction, and a signal detected thereby is suitably used as asignal for detecting the unevenness of the ground. The inclinationsensor 82 detects the inclination of the vehicle body when the vehiclebody 10 drives over a bump on the ground or falls in a hole in theground, and a signal detected thereby is also suitably used as a signalfor detecting the unevenness of the ground. Furthermore, a plurality ofproximity sensors 83 are provided at the center of the lower portion ofthe vehicle body 10 at intervals in the traverse direction of thevehicle body. The proximity sensors 83 measure the distance to theground using ultrasonic waves and optical beams. Accordingly, signalsdetected by the proximity sensors 83 are suitably used as signals fordetecting the unevenness of the ground that the UV can drive over.

Control System

FIG. 3 illustrates a control system configured in the UV. A control unit5, which is an essential element of the control system, includes anoutput processing unit 95, an input processing unit 94 and acommunication unit 96, which function as input/output interfaces. Theoutput processing unit 95 is connected to a vehicle traveling devicegroup 91, a notification device 92 and the like. The vehicle travelingdevice group 91 includes devices to be controlled in order for thevehicle to travel, such as the engine 30 and the transmission 31. Thenotification device 92 includes a display for displaying various typesof information, and a buzzer, a speaker or a lamp that gives, in thecase of danger, a warning to avoid the danger. The communication unit 96functions to transmit data processed in the control unit 5 to amanagement computer 100 configured in a cloud service center KS (denotedby a dotted line in FIG. 3) in a remote place, and receive various typesof data from the management computer 100.

The input processing unit 94 is connected to a satellite positioningmodule 7, the camera 8 and a travel state detecting sensor group 80which is one of sensor groups. The travel state detecting sensor group80 includes the acceleration sensor 81, the inclination sensor 82 andthe proximity sensors 83. Furthermore, the travel state detecting sensorgroup 80 also includes sensors for detecting the number of rotations ofthe engine, the number of rotations of the rear wheels, the gear stateof transmission 31 and the like, although they are not shown.

The control unit 5 includes a travel control unit 51, a notificationunit 52 and an actual vehicle position calculation unit 53. The travelcontrol unit 51 controls the vehicle traveling device group 91 inaccordance with an operation made by the driver. The notification unit52 generates information to be given to the driver. For example, if thepresence of a travel obstacle is detected, the notification unit 52gives the driver a warning to avoid danger via the notification device92. The actual vehicle position calculation unit 53 calculates theactual vehicle position based on positioning data from the satellitepositioning module 7 that employs a GPS (global positioning system) orthe like.

The control unit 5 further includes an image processing unit 60, aninput parameter setting unit 61, a ground unevenness degree calculationunit 62, an unevenness-position data generation unit 63, a data storageunit 64 and a slip probability calculation unit 65, which serve ascontrol functional units that manage the ground state.

The image processing unit 60 processes image data of the ground intravel captured by the camera 8. The image processing unit 60 not onlyhas commonly-known image processing functions such as level adjustmentand edge detection, but also includes here a ground analysis unit 60 a,which is a group of image processing units for analyzing the groundstate. The ground analysis unit 60 a has the functions of detecting abump or hole in the ground, and detecting a travel obstacle such as atree or rock standing from the ground, and outputs, as a result ofanalysis, ground unevenness data, which is data related to the bump orhole, or the obstacle.

The ground unevenness degree calculation unit 62 calculates the groundunevenness degree indicating the unevenness degree of the ground basedon an input parameter. As shown in FIG. 4, the input parameters aresignals (data) converted into internal data based on the groundunevenness data from the ground analysis unit 60 a, and on data detectedfrom the acceleration sensor 81, the inclination sensor 82 and theproximity sensors 83. The sensors have different detection capabilities.For example, data detected by the proximity sensors 83 is usable for arelatively small bump or hole such as one that the vehicle body 10 candrive over, and data detected by the inclination sensor 82 is usable fora large bump or hole such as one that the vehicle body 10 can ascend ordescend. If the periodicity/frequency between uneven elements is short,then data detected by the acceleration sensor 81 is usable. Groundunevenness data, which is data detected by the camera 8, is usable for alarge bump or hole, but is not usable for ground where tall plants grow.Accordingly, the input parameter setting unit 61 sets, as an inputparameter, data regarded as suitable that is selected from among threetypes of data detected from the sensor group (including the accelerationsensor 81, the inclination sensor 82 and the proximity sensors 83) andground unevenness data based on image data captured by the camera 8. Atthis time, only a single piece of data may be set, or a plurality ofpieces of data may be set. If a plurality of pieces of data are set asinput parameters, the input parameters may preferably be weighted orprioritized. The setting of the input parameter setting unit 61 may beperformed manually using a selection button, or previous parameters maybe set automatically if the place is a place where the vehicle haspreviously traveled.

The unevenness-position data generation unit 63 associates the actualvehicle position calculated by the actual vehicle position calculationunit 53 with the ground unevenness degree calculated by the groundunevenness degree calculation unit 62 to generate groundunevenness-position data. The ground unevenness-position data willindicate the ground unevenness degree at a specific position on a map.

The slip probability calculation unit 65 calculates a slip probabilitybased on a difference between the computed travel distance calculatedbased on the circumferential velocity of the rear wheels 1 b, and anactual travel distance calculated based on the actual vehicle positionfrom the actual vehicle position calculation unit 53. The slipprobability is available as data indicating the ground state, and thusin this embodiment, the slip probability is added to the groundunevenness-position data. The ground unevenness-position data generatedby the unevenness-position data generation unit 63 is successivelystored in the data storage unit 64.

Ground Management System

In this embodiment, the management computer 100 is arranged in the cloudservice center KS installed in a remote place, to manage the groundstate of the off-road ground. The management computer 100 includes anunevenness distribution map information generation unit 101, a mapinformation supply unit 102 and a user management unit 103.

The unevenness distribution map information generation unit 101 deploys,on a map, ground unevenness-position data transmitted from the off-roadvehicle via a communication line (such as the Internet or a mobiletelephone line), and generates ground unevenness distribution mapinformation to be accumulated therein. The map information supply unit102 functions similar to a web server; and in response to a request fromthe off-road vehicle, transmits the ground unevenness distribution mapinformation to the off-road vehicle via the communication line. The usermanagement unit 103 manages users registered to a cloud service forproviding a road surface state to off-road vehicles.

The ground unevenness distribution map information supplied by the mapinformation supply unit 102 is generated based on groundunevenness-position data transmitted by the users (off-road vehicles)registered to the cloud service that provides a road surface state, andthus the driver of an off-road vehicle during travel can be notified bythe notification device 92 of the unevenness state of the ground in anarea in which the driver has not yet traveled. The notification unit 52can also give the driver a warning, if it is determined that unevennessin the ground including a dangerous travel obstacle is present in thetravel destination, based on the ground unevenness distribution mapinformation received from the map information supply unit 102 and on thetravel direction of the vehicle.

Other Embodiments

(1) In the foregoing embodiment, the control unit 5 included in theoff-road vehicle receives and uses the cloud service for providing aroad surface state from the management computer 100. Instead thereof, auser terminal independent of the off-road vehicle may receive and usethe cloud service for providing the road surface state. In this case,data exchange between the user terminal of the driver or a fellowpassenger and the off-road vehicle is performed via wireless datacommunication or wired data communication.

(2) Furthermore, the above-described ground management system may alsobe constituted by an off-road vehicle, a user terminal and a managementcomputer 100. In this case, the off-road vehicle includes a satellitepositioning module 7, an actual vehicle position calculation unit 53, atravel state detecting sensor group 80, a camera 8, a ground unevennessdegree calculation unit 62, an input parameter setting unit 61 and anunevenness-position data generation unit 63. The management computer 100includes: an unevenness distribution map information generation unit 101that generates ground unevenness distribution map information based onground unevenness-position data transmitted from the off-road vehiclevia the user terminal; and a map information supply unit 102 thattransmits the ground unevenness distribution map information to the userterminal in response to a request from the user terminal. The userterminal displays the ground unevenness distribution map information.

(3) In the foregoing embodiment, the acceleration sensor 81, theinclination sensor 82 and the proximity sensors 83 serve as sensors fordetecting the unevenness state of the off-road ground, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. Any sensor may be used in place of ortogether with these sensors as long as it can detect the unevennessstate of the ground.

(4) The segmentation of the functional units in the functional blockdiagram as shown in FIG. 3 is only an example mainly for the purpose ofillustration, and the integration of various functional units ordivision of a single functional unit into a plurality of subunits may bedone suitably. Particularly, the unevenness distribution map informationgeneration unit 101 may be formed in the control unit 5 of the off-roadvehicle while serving as a functional unit for generating unevennessdistribution map information dedicated for this vehicle.

What is claimed is:
 1. An off-road vehicle configured to travel on theoff-road ground, comprising: a satellite positioning module configuredto output positioning data; an actual vehicle position calculation unitconfigured to calculate an actual vehicle position based on thepositioning data; a sensor group configured to detect unevenness of theground; a camera configured to capture the unevenness of the ground; aground unevenness degree calculation unit configured to calculate aground unevenness degree indicating an unevenness degree of the groundbased on an input parameter; an input parameter setting unit configuredto set, as the input parameter, data selected from among data detectedby the sensor group and image data captured by the camera; anunevenness-position data generation unit configured to associate theactual vehicle position with the ground unevenness degree to generateground unevenness-position data; and a data storage unit configured tostore the ground unevenness-position data, wherein the sensor groupincludes an inclination sensor configured to detect unevenness of theground forward of the vehicle by detecting inclination of the groundforward of the vehicle, and a proximity sensor provided at a lowerportion of the vehicle body and configured to detect smaller unevennessof the ground under the vehicle than the unevenness detected by theinclination sensor.
 2. The off-road vehicle according to claim 1,wherein the sensor group further includes an acceleration sensorconfigured to detect unevenness of the ground by detecting movement ofthe vehicle body in a vertical direction.
 3. The off-road vehicleaccording to claim 1, further comprising a ground analysis unitconfigured to generate, based on the image data, an analysis resultindicating the ground unevenness degree that includes the presence of atravel obstacle on the ground.
 4. The off-road vehicle according toclaim 1, further comprising an unevenness distribution map informationgeneration unit configured to generate ground unevenness distributionmap information based on the ground unevenness-position data accumulatedthrough off-road travel.
 5. The off-road vehicle according to claim 1,further comprising a communication unit configured to transmit theground unevenness-position data to the outside via a communication line.6. A ground management system using an off-road vehicle that travels onthe off-road ground, the off-road vehicle comprising: a satellitepositioning module configured to output positioning data; an actualvehicle position calculation unit configured to calculate an actualvehicle position based on the positioning data; a sensor groupconfigured to detect unevenness of the ground; a camera configured tocapture the unevenness of the ground; a ground unevenness degreecalculation unit configured to calculate a ground unevenness degreeindicating an unevenness degree of the ground based on an inputparameter; an input parameter setting unit configured to set, as theinput parameter, data selected from among data detected by the sensorgroup and image data captured by the camera; and an unevenness-positiondata generation unit configured to associate the actual vehicle positionwith the ground unevenness degree to generate ground unevenness-positiondata, wherein the ground management system comprises: an unevennessdistribution map information generation unit configured to generateground unevenness distribution map information based on the groundunevenness-position data transmitted from the off-road vehicle; and amap information supply unit configured to transmit, in response to arequest from a user terminal, the ground unevenness distribution mapinformation to the user terminal, and wherein the sensor group includesan inclination sensor configured to detect unevenness of the groundforward of the vehicle by detecting inclination of the ground forward ofthe vehicle, and a proximity sensor provided at a lower portion of thevehicle body and configured to detect smaller unevenness of the groundunder the vehicle than the unevenness detected by the inclinationsensor.
 7. The off-road vehicle according to claim 1, wherein aplurality of the proximity sensors is provided at a lower portion of thevehicle body at intervals in a transverse direction of the vehicle body.8. The ground management system according to claim 6, wherein aplurality of the proximity sensors is provided at a lower portion of thevehicle body at intervals in a transverse direction of the vehicle body.9. An off-road vehicle configured to travel on the off-road ground,comprising: a satellite positioning module configured to outputpositioning data; an actual vehicle position calculation unit configuredto calculate an actual vehicle position based on the positioning data; asensor group configured to detect unevenness of the ground; a cameraconfigured to capture the unevenness of the ground; a ground unevennessdegree calculation unit configured to calculate a ground unevennessdegree indicating an unevenness degree of the ground based on an inputparameter; an input parameter setting unit configured to set, as theinput parameter, data selected from among data detected by the sensorgroup and image data captured by the camera; an unevenness-position datageneration unit configured to associate the actual vehicle position withthe ground unevenness degree to generate ground unevenness-positiondata; and a data storage unit configured to store the groundunevenness-position data, wherein the sensor group includes aninclination sensor configured to detect unevenness of the ground bydetecting inclination of a vehicle body, and a proximity sensorconfigured to detect smaller unevenness of the ground than theunevenness detected by the inclination sensor; and wherein a pluralityof the proximity sensors are provided at a lower portion of the vehicleat intervals in a transverse direction of the vehicle body.
 10. Theoff-road vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the sensor group furtherincludes an acceleration sensor configured to detect unevenness of theground by detecting movement of the vehicle body in a verticaldirection.
 11. The off-road vehicle according to claim 9, furthercomprising a ground analysis unit configured to generate, based on theimage data, an analysis result indicating the ground unevenness degreethat includes the presence of a travel obstacle on the ground.
 12. Theoff-road vehicle according to claim 9, further comprising an unevennessdistribution map information generation unit configured to generateground unevenness distribution map information based on the groundunevenness-position data accumulated through off-road travel.
 13. Theoff-road vehicle according to claim 9, further comprising acommunication unit configured to transmit the ground unevenness-positiondata to the outside via a communication line.
 14. A ground managementsystem using an off-road vehicle that travels on the off-road ground,the off-road vehicle comprising: a satellite positioning moduleconfigured to output positioning data; an actual vehicle positioncalculation unit configured to calculate an actual vehicle positionbased on the positioning data; a sensor group configured to detectunevenness of the ground; a camera configured to capture the unevennessof the ground; a ground unevenness degree calculation unit configured tocalculate a ground unevenness degree indicating an unevenness degree ofthe ground based on an input parameter; an input parameter setting unitconfigured to set, as the input parameter, data selected from among datadetected by the sensor group and image data captured by the camera; andan unevenness-position data generation unit configured to associate theactual vehicle position with the ground unevenness degree to generateground unevenness-position data, wherein the ground management systemcomprises: an unevenness distribution map information generation unitconfigured to generate ground unevenness distribution map informationbased on the ground unevenness-position data transmitted from theoff-road vehicle; and a map information supply unit configured totransmit, in response to a request from a user terminal, the groundunevenness distribution map information to the user terminal, andwherein the sensor group includes an inclination sensor configured todetect unevenness of the ground by detecting inclination of a vehiclebody, and a proximity sensor configured to detect smaller unevenness ofthe ground than the unevenness detected by the inclination sensor; andwherein a plurality of the proximity sensors are provided at a lowerportion of the vehicle body at intervals in a traverse direction of thevehicle body.
 15. An off-road vehicle configured to travel on theoff-road ground, comprising: a satellite positioning module configuredto output positioning data; an actual vehicle position calculation unitconfigured to calculate an actual vehicle position based on thepositioning data; a sensor group configured to detect unevenness of theground; a camera configured to capture the unevenness of the ground; aground unevenness degree calculation unit configured to calculate aground unevenness degree indicating an unevenness degree of the groundbased on an input parameter; an input parameter setting unit configuredto set, as the input parameter, data selected from among data detectedby the sensor group and image data captured by the camera; anunevenness-position data generation unit configured to associate theactual vehicle position with the ground unevenness degree to generateground unevenness-position data; and a data storage unit configured tostore the ground unevenness-position data, wherein the sensor groupincludes an inclination sensor configured to detect unevenness of theground forward of the vehicle by detecting inclination of the groundforward of the vehicle, and a proximity sensor provided at a lowerportion of the vehicle body and configured to detect smaller unevennessof the ground under the vehicle than the unevenness detected by theinclination sensor; and wherein a plurality of the proximity sensors areprovided at a lower portion of the vehicle body at intervals in atraverse direction of the vehicle body.
 16. The off-road vehicleaccording to claim 15, wherein the sensor group further includes anacceleration sensor configured to detect unevenness of the ground bydetecting movement of the vehicle body in a vertical direction.
 17. Theoff-road vehicle according to claim 15, further comprising a groundanalysis unit configured to generate, based on the image data, ananalysis result indicating the ground unevenness degree that includesthe presence of a travel obstacle on the ground.
 18. The off-roadvehicle according to claim 15, further comprising an unevennessdistribution map information generation unit configured to generateground unevenness distribution map information based on the groundunevenness-position data accumulated through off-road travel.
 19. Theoff-road vehicle according to claim 15, further comprising acommunication unit configured to transmit the ground unevenness-positiondata to the outside via a communication line.
 20. A ground managementsystem using an off-road vehicle that travels on the off-road ground,the off-road vehicle comprising: a satellite positioning moduleconfigured to output positioning data; an actual vehicle positioncalculation unit configured to calculate an actual vehicle positionbased on the positioning data; a sensor group configured to detectunevenness of the ground; a camera configured to capture the unevennessof the ground; a ground unevenness degree calculation unit configured tocalculate a ground unevenness degree indicating an unevenness degree ofthe ground based on an input parameter; an input parameter setting unitconfigured to set, as the input parameter, data selected from among datadetected by the sensor group and image data captured by the camera; andan unevenness-position data generation unit configured to associate theactual vehicle position with the ground unevenness degree to generateground unevenness-position data, wherein the ground management systemcomprises: an unevenness distribution map information generation unitconfigured to generate ground unevenness distribution map informationbased on the ground unevenness-position data transmitted from theoff-road vehicle; and a map information supply unit configured totransmit, in response to a request from a user terminal, the groundunevenness distribution map information to the user terminal, andwherein the sensor group includes an inclination sensor configured todetect unevenness of the ground forward of the vehicle by detectinginclination of the ground forward of the vehicle, and a proximity sensorprovided at a lower portion of the vehicle body and configured to detectsmaller unevenness of the ground under the vehicle than the unevennessdetected by the inclination sensor; and wherein a plurality of theproximity sensors are provided at a lower portion of the vehicle body atintervals in a traverse direction of the vehicle body.